


target.

by hyuckkuns



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band), SM Rookies
Genre: Crack, Crack Relationships, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, NCT Dream - Freeform, WayV - Freeform, colorist remarks, hyuck works @ the starbucks in target, korean beauty standards? grr, mark left walmart to work @ target, nct - Freeform, sorta crack, target employees
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-07-27 01:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20037940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckkuns/pseuds/hyuckkuns
Summary: ۰۪۫t۪۫۰۰۪۫a۪۫۰۰۪۫r۪۫۰۰۪۫g۪۫۰۰۪۫e۪۫۰۰۪۫t۪۫۰ву: нуυcккυηѕ|➷|۰۪۫m۪۫۰۰۪۫a۪۫۰۰۪۫i۪۫۰۰۪۫n۪۫۰ ۰۪۫s۪۫۰۰۪۫h۪۫۰۰۪۫i۪۫۰۰۪۫p۪۫۰  : |➷||➷|мαrкнуυcк|➷||•|۰۪۫s۪۫۰۰۪۫i۪۫۰۰۪۫d۪۫۰۰۪۫e۪۫۰ ۰۪۫s۪۫۰۰۪۫h۪۫۰۰۪۫i۪۫۰۰۪۫p۪۫۰۰۪۫s۪۫۰ :|•||•| cнєηѕυηg|•||•|ʝαєησrєη|•||•|ωιηкυη|•||•|тєηdєrу|•||•|χιασуαηg|•|*•.¸♡.♡¸.•*—where two boys work at target, and they're too dumb to realize they're in love with each other.—with the help of their friends, can they set up the boys, or will it all fail in the end?-----copyright ©2019 by hyuckkunsall rights reserved





	1. Chapter 1

it was early morning with the sun shining from the curtains, almost see through.

when the light hit his face, he groaned in exhaustion, stretching and yawning. when the alarm clock by his bed read 1:27AM, his eyelids struggled to stay open to text his friends in canada. when he rolled over to look at the alarm clock, it had already been 11:23am. oh, ten hours didn’t seem remotely enough time to really stay there, his muscles exhausted. he picked up his phone and checked the notifications, yawning once more. mark blinked off the sleep and replied again, before getting a text from one of his coworkers, yuta nakamoto--a japanese transfer student who’s barely making ends meet.

**japan man:** _ [you stayed up again didn’t you]_

**canada man:** _[you know me so well already 😳😳] _

**japan man:** _[first off you’re late]_

**canada man:** _[IM WHAT?????]_

he threw off the sheets around him and ran off to the bathroom, washing up quickly and rather half-carelessly, ignoring yuta’s pestering him and typing in the direction to the local starbucks, before looking at the clock.

“it’s not even noon yet…” he grumbled, before sighing out and flopping back onto his bed, closing his eyes despite being wide awake now, thanks to the scare of his life. mark closed his eyes desperately, taking a deep breath before the actual alarm on his phone for 11:45AM went off, annoyingly urging him to get up with its loud beeps filling the apartment. his eyes shot open, staring at the white ceiling and punching the “dismiss” button.

the candian rolled from his bed onto the floor, a soft whine as he laid there for a few moments and closed his eyes.. he wiggled like a worm over to his dresser, taking out the first things he could reach. slipping on the clothing, he didn't bother taking off his pajama wear.

you could just tell he worked at walmart.

he crawled desperately towards the door of his apartment, just wanting to feel the satisfaction of at least getting out of his home, even if it was for a minute. that, in itself, was an accomplishment for the day. when he did, mark hissed at the light, retracting back into his dark apartment and turning to lay on his back, his eyes wide open as he started at the ceiling.

he didn't know how he would be even be able to step one way closer to the boujeé walmart at that point, knowing that walmart employees were basically all vampires who hated the sun.

with one last struggle, he once again approached the light, his eyes burning in passion… and light sensitivity. his knees were weak, arms were heavy. there was a vomit stain on his hoodie already from last week when he had this dilemma again. he honestly looked like a twink, but he managed to push himself through to the light. mark got up from the ground, dusting off his pants as he walked down towards the target, grumbling and shoving his hands in his pocket. yes, he got stares. mothers gave an odd stare and children stared up in curiosity. friend groups disbursed just to walk around them. but he honestly couldn’t care less about the people surrounding him, he just wanted his coffee.

meanwhile, in the starbucks where the canadian male was headed, there was a tanned korean boy who was happily working the day shift, running along, just radiating positive vibes as he smiled and laughed and talked to customers. he hummed softly as he handed a customer their drink, taking their payment and cashing out the change before waltzing back to his original station brightly, looking like he wanted to be there. in reality, work was the last place he wanted to be but it was a decent job, at least.

the boy, donghyuck, was lonely, to say the least. not in a friend sense, as he had tons. most of his coworkers had nothing negative to say about him, since he had to keep up a friendly, energetic persona at work. but he wanted a relationship. an honest, happy, and loving relationship. he wanted to feel the warmth of hugs, the comfort of cuddles, the soothingness of kisses upon his temple. hyuck watched his friends with their girlfriends and boyfriends and internally, was so envious. he wanted that kind of affection, to the point where it’s nearly become a need for him. he’s always been the type to show skinship to his friends anyway. he could almost feel soft lips press against his own, hearts dancing and fluttering along to the rhythm of love. when he thought of being held by someone, he felt himself smiling and blushing, going into a daydream.

hell, it would be easy for him to get a relationship if it weren't for the fact he was a blatant homosexual man.

the one thing that struck him most wasn’t the fact he was gay or that he didn’t have a boyfriend to go to or to talk with about deep personal things. his true pet peeve about himself was his tanned skin, something from being out in the sun most of the time, throughout his childhood and then with jumping into adult life, being active in the sunlight and instead of burning, tanning. it was something that the boy was always insecure about from when his classmates first pointed out he was “different” from them. it started there and it grew and grew until most people had a problem with it. whether it be due to the beauty standards of snow white skin or the harsh bullying and degrading that came from it later in life.

koreans loved pale, white skin. but the pudu-faced male was inferior to the societal standards of korean men. especially since things like k-pop groups filled with beautiful men and women just made him feel even more insecure, not finding idols he could relate to for being a slightly darker skin tone.

he heard the whispers as he passed by, whether it was at school or at work, all the colorist comments by his surrounding society. it crushed him almost completely hearing those in that bitter tone when he was sitting at his desk doodling after his work was done. often, he snapped at them harshly before getting yelled at by the teacher and staying silent for the rest of the day. at work, it came from customers after he had tried his best to be kind to them. it made him feel utterly worthless in the world, like the ugly duckling standing out from the rest of the crowd, prided in their normalities and looks. there was always a voice that told him he was ugly, that he wasn't worth anything. but why? why did he degrade himself over something he couldn’t control? his tendency to keep it all inside was the answer. he built things up to where they boiled over when he was by himself and donghyuck needed someone to talk to but no one to turn to but that stained image in the mirror. he not only longed for the warmth of someone holding him but for someone to tell him it was okay to be the way he was and that he would be safe and welcome no matter what. for someone to even hint that he would say something when he heard those comments about his beloved. even some of his dearest friends said nothing when they heard these comments and he felt as if he was drifting, alone. sometimes, he felt himself resenting them. donghyuck never said anything, no. he just grins and bears it. smiles and carries on, trying to be the cheeriest at his job. this was the one thing he could do right, at least. and jumping back into reality we go.

12:18 PM, the analog clock read behind him in the break room.

hyuck had turned around to find a black-haired boy coming in through the automatic sliding doors, squinting at the light before pulling down his hood. he went back to his station, signing into the cashier and stretching a little as the boy looked around confused, appearing as if he were dazed. the vomit stain stood out the most out of all of his features—at least, to the rest of the staff and the customers who actually stopped in their tracks when he walked in all of a sudden. the younger noticed his face, and imagined if his features weren’t as scrunched up as they were now.

mark glared at a customer before stumbling over to them and asking where the starbucks was in a guttural voice before he tried to clear his throat. when mark turned around, he was greeted by a cheery, bright voice and a smile like the sun’s. he walked over to be met by the tanned boy, leaning over the counter and waving gently.

_“hello sir! can i help you?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🍊 : stream boom and unsubscribe from sm entertainment #justiceforrenjun  
🍑 : cliffhangers! gotta love em :)


	2. Chapter 2

_“hello sir! can i help you?”_

that smile on the younger’s face and oh, that sweet voice stopped him in his tracks after he put his hood back on after more people stared. hyuck’s eyes wandered to the black hair that stuck out of the hoodie and softly sighed, looking down at his eyes again. _sure, he may look like he’s homeless and straight white boy jock ass bitch, but he’s hot_, donghyuck thought before waving his hand in front of him.  
“hellooo? are you alive?” he called out, a part of him genuinely concerned if this man were either dead but still standing, a schizophrenic, or just blanking out. mark blinked before nodding slowly, his eyes wandering to hyuck’s eyes that twinkled with friendship and warmth. 

“yeah, um, like, is this… like, the starbucks?” mark mumbled, before looking down and suddenly feeling the blood rush into his face and make him feel hot. he breathed in deeply before looking back up at him as he heard a giggle snap him back into the harsh reality when he thought his face was cooler.

the tanned boy’s response is to point above at the lit-up starbucks logo of the green mermaid, giggling a little at his shyness. he looked around at the canadian’s features, down to his neck and up to his little hair sticking out. mark inhaled softly as he looked up in embarrassment and then at the menu past him, trying to avoid the sight of the employee. if he looked at him one more time, he would actually lean forward and kiss him straight on his lips. but then again… wasn’t he _straight_? like, no homo bro? or at least, he thought he was.

digging his nails into his thighs out of the sheer humiliation he felt, the canadian looked back over at the tanned male. he tried to avoid his eyes, knowing that those chocolate brown doe-like eyes would captivate him once again. then again, so did those plump lips. and two tiny moles on his face that made him look adorable. his tan skin made him look even more attractive, at least to mark. fuck. he _was_ gay, now because of this barista he didn’t know half an hour ago. 

looking down at his neck instead, which even that seemed attractive, mark gave a small grin before he spoke in a soft tone. "can i, like, um… like, um… like, a latte?"

donghyuck softly nodded, before snickering and giggling softly. “what _kind_ of latte, sir?” he laughed, covering his mouth with his hand as he watched mark process lattes. god, he looked like an angel, even when he sounded like he had an iq of 4 and was stumbling over that one braincell as if it were a stool. 

normally, donghyuck would just ignore customer’s looks and just take their orders but… this seemed to be special. he didn’t know why this was any different from any other customer, but it felt strange. a wonderful sort of strange.

mark honestly felt so hot to the point he was sweating, the blood flushing his face a deep shade of red. he wanted to crawl back into his dark hole and cry for like 8 hours straight while going through a midlife crisis. 

"um, like… a caramel one, i guess," the male shrugged, shifting a bit in posture to try not to seem _that_ uneasy. god, why the fuck did he sound like he's never had any social interactions in his entire life? he honestly had no clue whatsoever. this boy was definitely doing something to him, and he didn’t know what. sorcery? magic? witchcraft? wizardry? hogwarts? god, are you even listening to me? he felt so unfamiliar with this feeling of what people would normally call “love” or “infatuation”. it made him want to crawl in his skin. but he wanted more of this.  
  
“coming right up! and your name?” donghyuck asked, smiling. this wasn’t gonna be a name he would easily forget, he could tell already from how he felt his chest swing and turn as if it were dancing.

"oh! uh, it’s, um… mi- ma- minh- it’s mark," he told him bashfully, knowing that mark wasn't the most korean-esque name. it definitely was more on the 'average white boy jock' name. honestly, he preferred it over his korean name, which was minhyung. he already trusted this boy with nearly telling him his name was minhyung.

hyuck smiled and nodded, writing it down and then turning around to make his drink. he turned his head back to look at him a little before he said something softly to him.  
“well, mark’s a pretty name, isn’t it?

_that was so stupid, you don’t just call someone’s name pretty… should i have said something more..? _he cursed to himself internally before rushing to make his drink.

mark laughed to himself softly, a nervous laugh as he took the compliment with beet red cheeks. did the most angelic being in the whole world call him _pretty_? even though it was only his name, he took it to heart.

one customer turned to look at the two nervous twinks, blinking while drinking her coffee. hyuck turned to look at her while he waited, before his eyes wandered back onto mark and stopped to admire his looks a little. he may never be here again, right? 

well, as a result of not just looking at him, but now staring again and taking everything into memory, the coffee started to overflow in its cup. hyuck noticed it finally when it burned his hand, wincing a little and swiftly pulling his hand away before he turned it off and ran off. he grabbed a towel and started to wipe the mess up, his heart speeding up in panic.  
“s-sorry, sir!” he exclaimed with sheer humiliation, covering his mouth.

_god you look like a fuck-up,_ he thought to himself as he tried to catch the coffee from going onto the floor.

mark quickly reacted, jumping with a start and reached over, turning on the sink by the counter to the cold water. "p-put your hand under, i-i can help clean if you'd like…" he offered, a worried gleam in his eyes and brows furrowed in concern. hyuck looked up at the boy, before sighing and nodding without much hesitation, before motioning his head towards the employee’s door into the small mart and leaving a towel to clean up the mess. when his hand went under the water, he whined from the sting but kept running it over, absolutely embarrassed and red in the face.

mark took not even another second's worth of hesitation before running towards the door, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. he stepped towards the door, opening it with a little hesitation, and dashing past employees on break. an orange-haired boy leaned on another boy with pink hair and thin eyes, before the orange-haired boy, chenle, turned to look up at jisung.

“yo, you know who that homeless ass lookin’ dude is?” he whispered into his ear, covering it so only jisung could hear. jisung suddenly got blown up by a creeper in his minecraft world and threw his phone at the wall, smashing its screen completely, before turning to him and sighing, looking over at mark. 

“i think i see him working at walmart sometimes. he sure looks worse,” jisung sighed to chenle, looking over at him and smiling at the elder before chenle scooched closer, hugging his arm. “hyuck’s a lil’ nervous, isn’t he?”

“i mean, more than usual,” he replied, watching the two as they seemed to both get red in the face near each other. “bro is hyuck into homeless dudes or just that one...”

“maybe they’re his type. i dunno,” chenle shrugged, holding his hands up to motion more that he had no fucking clue about his friend.

kun, the manager, blinked as he watched him run past, a little flurry going towards where the front was. who was he? he didn't recall his face. he decided to slowly step out and watch through a crack in the doorway. he almost gasped when he saw donghyuck running his burnt hand through water, and the mysterious boy in the hoodie cleaning the mess the coffee made.

the chinese man's heart warmed at the sight, smiling a little. maybe he could consider possibly hiring the boy? he continued to watch, fascinated by the scene of the two, again, twinks. 

mark mopped up the mess with a towel, making sure there was nothing left behind before trashing the towel in a bin hidden underneath the counter. he then took another towel, allowing hyuck to run his hand under the cold water for another couple minutes before he gently pulled his arm away. 

with his arm being pulled away by _mark’s _hands, he felt his face go beet red, looking down nervously. _are you serious,_ he kept thinking to himself, already getting spun up in those love drunk fantasies of getting held by someone again. but this time, that someone was mark.

he dampened the towel lightly with cold water, before wrapping it carefully around the younger's hand and tying it at the top when there was little left to wrap. he watched as his hand was being taken care of by the elder, before looking up at him.  
“um, thank you, mark…” he softly sighed blissfully, before looking up at the hoodie. “you mind if i… um…” hyuck pointed to the top of his head, signalling that he wanted to take his hood off and looking up at his twinkling eyes.

_god, how can i say no to him? _the canadian bit his lip, and nodded slowly before he slid the hood off the top of his head. he let his messy black hair loose, and then…

  
"_holy fuck, jisung. he looks like a zepeto!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🍊: thank me for the 3am humor  
🍑: I HAD MY MOMENTS  
🍊: so sad alexa play take off


	3. Chapter 3

_ "holy fuck, jisung. he looks like a zepeto!” _

jisung almost choked on his spit, letting out a scream-like guffaw. his mouth quickly got covered by the hand of his chinese counterpart before anyone could notice.

chenle suddenly pulled away in a quick motion, yelping softly and wiping his palm on jisung's shirt, ridding it of the younger's saliva. 

"eww, you're nastyyyy," he whined, making jisung stick his tongue out at him childishly. ten, another employee, rolled his eyes towards the behavior of the two.

hyuck himself, on the other hand, wasn't quite doing so hot. well, he was hot. quite literally to the face when mark took his hoodie off. he felt like there was just nothing else better than this, but his head felt light as if he were about to faint at the sight or about to drop to his knees.

the male seemed to be a lot more ethereal and godlike now that he could see his entire face. if eyes were the gateway to the soul, then by god would hyuck be taking a highway to heaven. the warm chocolate eyes that twinkled with life outshone the blemishes and dark eyebags present on his face.

through mark’s physical flaws, donghyuck saw perfection. he saw a man who put even aphrodite and eros combined to shame. his sharp jawline could literally cut him open and he wouldn't be mad. his lips seemed to look so kissable and full and a beautiful shade of pink now. the two little beauty marks on his neck seemed adorable, hyuck could see himself just leaning in to press a kiss over them. his breath hitched as he took in this feeling of infatuation.

the two stared at each other to what seemed to chenle and jisung on the side for hours, but in reality, only a few minutes before there was a sudden chime. where did it come from?

the answer was mark’s phone buzzing.

**japan man: ** _ [BRO WHERE ARE YOU IT’S LIKE 1 ALREADY WHO ARE YOU WITH AND WHY AND YOU’RE LEAVING ME HERE. ALONE. TO DIE. BITCHHCHCHHH!!!!!] _

mark bit his lip. shit, he completely blanked out about work. he apologized to donghyuck, quickly paying him for the drink he never received before pacing quickly out of the store, thumbs tapping away nervously at his keyboard. 

donghyuck watched him leave, stuttering and trying to come up with something to ask or say before he did but he was already out the sliding doors. 

**canada man: ** _ [oh yeah hahahaha sorry forgot lololol] _

**japan man: ** _ [i will kill you like my great-great-great-great-great samurai grandfather would have and drag you through the toy aisle for the kids to watch] _ _   
_ _   
_ **canada man: ** _ [coolios bro. gotta skrt, cute boy alert 🚨🚨] _   


**japan man: ** _ [bitch u should have said that in the first place and i would leave u be or tell johnny u were sick brb] _

**canada man:** _[ayy esketit. ok bro good luck dont get ur ass beat by taeyong either. he fuckin fiesty bro how do u date him]_

**japan man: ** _ [bold of you to assume he already doesn’t beat my ass] _

**canada man:** _[bold of u to assume i cared. anyways gtg i think cute boy misses me]_

and just like that, mark strutted back into the starbucks, confidence seeming to be oozing out of him—at least, for a few more minutes. he approached the counter, leaning over and looking through a hazy gaze at the blushing tanned boy, who was rather startled by his sudden confidence, staring at him with obvious admiration in his eyes for mark that seemed to go over the other’s head.

_"so cute boy, what's your name?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🍊: 4 am tingz xd  
🍑: i stayed up for this shit i cant believe it  
🍊: u did it for me ;)  
🍑: stfu bro......u homo  
🍊: u wanna fight me hoe  
🍑: THIS HOE IS YOUR DAMN SISTER  
🍊: and?  
🍑: i never said i denied being a hoe i just said im ur sister  
🍊: and i oop


	4. Chapter 4

_ "so cute boy, what's your name?" _

donghyuck blinked at the other male's question as his heart beat like it was his last day, his head nodding down to acknowledge the name tag that was pinned over his left breast. he avoided looking at him after mark called him “cute boy”. he would kiss him if he weren’t so nervous about just this  _ one boy _ . 

mark looked down at it as well and blushed a little when it was clearly there. “donghyuck” , written in colorful chalk markers on a black chalkboard name tag, with cute little flowers and hearts around it.   
  
“...when did you put that nametag on?”

  
“it’s been there all day...”

the employees, all who were now watching through the crack of the door to the starbucks, cringed at the canadian when he asked that. 

kun blinked and looked at the two boys with a smile, laughing a little before looking up at sicheng, who couldn’t even bear to watch this stupidity anymore, joining ten in rethinking his life decisions. he sighed at the two, staring up at sicheng with admiration, remembering when they met. kun was always stuttering around him on projects in class before sicheng asked him if he wanted to go to the movies with him, and kun came to completely admire him, and since, they’ve been seeing each other. 

jeno had to cover his mouth to suppress the urge to laugh at his best friend, who he remembers teasing for having a crush on one of the graduating upperclassmen back in highschool--and now it’s another upperclassman, who looked a year or two older, thinking this was deja vu again. jaemin soon joined jeno in laughing in the corner, covering his mouth and trying to breathe from laughing so hard, slapping his knee. their other boyfriend, renjun, went with the two elder men he looked up to that were staring off longingly, wishing to be somewhere else. he covered his mouth before whispering,  _ “i don’t know what to say about them, this is just a cliche all over again…” _

xiaojun gagged slightly at rather the stupidity, shaking his head while yangyang punched his arm lightly and smiled, before holding onto him to watch the two with interest. 

hendery watched the boys who were obviously in love with interest, before looking back at ten silently, feeling his cheeks tingle warmth before he just stared again with a straight face.

jisung and chenle tried to hold back their laughter, but they honestly couldn't. softly, the pair giggled to each other with their cheeks painted a red tint, and adoration in both pairs of eyes for each other. the scene was beyond any k-drama theybe ever seen, and it was fucking hilarious.

mark's face hot with embarrassment. he laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck in a nervous habit, barely taking a breath as he laughed until he ran out of breath. more like his breath was taken away. 

donghyuck couldn’t help but to laugh either and automatically scooting closer to him by habit, feeling something in the pit of his stomach as he stared up at how his lips curved into a laugh, biting his bottom lip and glancing away.

"right… donghyuck…" mark laughed awkwardly once again, shifting on his feet and looking at the two moles on his face. oh god, that was cute. he panicked on what he should say then, before the words came out without his realizing. "do you, like… know you share a name with the ikon dude?"

"oh my god this mans be the most dumbass bitch i've ever seen..." jaemin muttered, earning a round of chuckles by those who heard, AKA, renjun and jeno. the rest silently agreed with jaemin, watching like  _ "what happens now?" _ . this white boy seemed to carry secondhand embarrassment in his aura. jeno couldn’t help but to wheeze, shaking his head. 

“don’t tell me hyuck’s blushing at that stupi-- DAMB”

donghyuck just blushed, giggling and nodding at the nervous male as jeno predicted. god, he was just so  _ cute _ , the tanned boy couldn’t help but think, his mind racing alongside his heart _ .  _ he wanted to pinch the older's cheeks and coo at him all day and his mind pulsed with romantic thoughts. but alas, their moment was ruined when the bell on the top of the door sang when a new customer walked in, getting in “line” behind mark. he watched the two, waiting patiently without exactly noticing the couple’s behaviour.

mark moved to the side, his face profusely red as donghyuck embarrassingly finished making his drink, his cheeks cooling off as he handed the cup to mark. they said their quick goodbyes before mark left the store, pacing out and texting yuta he was heading home instead if he told johnny he was sick. he wished he had just  _ stayed _ in there with him, staring into those doe-like eyes and laughing stupidly if he said anything. donghyuck started taking the order of the man who was behind mark before he heard a sudden outburst from the back when mark left, startling him before he continued.

the employees in the back each had an excited outburst similar to one another’s, even the previously stoic people happy. except for one.

suddenly, a voice chirped up. specifically, a dark haired, short chinese male in the back of the break room that caused the room to go silent as they blinked at him, waiting before something finally came out of his mouth. he was the only employee silent during the outburst of the feeling for pride, success, and happiness in their chests for hyuck.

_ "hyuck's bitchass really forgot to give his zepeto mans his number, y’all DO realize that, right?" _


End file.
